Osman Çakmak (born 1977) is a Turkish football player and coach who is the manager of the

Turkey national amputee football team Turkey national amputee football team is the men's national team of Turkey in amputee football. It is governed by the Turkish Disabled Sports Federation (, TBESF), and takes part in international amputee football competitions. Achievements Cu ...

. He played as midfielder and served as the captain of the national amputee team. He played professional football before his leg was amputated below the knee, after he stepped on a landmine during military service. In 2020, he was appointed manager of the national amputee football team which won the 2021 European Amputee Football Championship under his direction.

Private life

Osman Çakmak was the sixth and last child born in 1977 into a farm family in the village of Narlıkışla in the

Zile Zile, anciently known as Zela () (still as Latin Catholic titular see), is a city in Tokat Province, Turkey. It is the seat of Zile District.Tokat Province Tokat Province () is a province in northern Turkey. Its area is 10,042 km2, and its population is 596,454 (2022). Its adjacent provinces are Amasya to the northwest, Yozgat to the southwest, Sivas to the southeast, and Ordu to the northeast. ...

, Turkey in 1977. He was schooled in his village. After finishing primary school, he went to

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

with two of his brothers to look for work. Çakmak discontinued his education because of his passion for playing football. Despite his brothers' objections, he joined

Zeytinburnuspor Zeytinburnu SK is a Turkish football club established in 1953 and based in the Zeytinburnu district of Istanbul, Turkey. They hold the record for worst performance in First League history during the 96/97 season, when they lost 27 matches out o ...

football club. Çakmak worked as a carpenter and supported his parents financially. He needed to earn more money to support his family when his brothers were

conscripted Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

, so he went to Russia as a foreign worker. Çakmak returned to Turkey and quit his football team's squad. When he was conscripted, Çakmak chose the

Commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

unit and was stationed at the Iraq–Turkey border. In 1997, he stepped on an

anti-personnel mine An anti-personnel mine or anti-personnel landmine (APL) is a form of land mine, mine designed for use against human, humans, as opposed to an anti-tank mine, which target vehicles. APLs are classified into: blast mines and fragmentation mines; ...

planted under a road's surface in Şenoba,

Şırnak Şırnak () is a city in Şırnak District and the capital of Şırnak Province in Turkey. The Ibrahim Khalil border crossing with Iraq is one of the main links of Turkey to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is mainly populated by Kurds o ...

, southeastern Turkey, while he was on a road security detail, and lost his left leg below the knee. In 2008, at the time of his therapy, while he was on his way to the military hospital in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, Çakmak decided to play amputee football at the suggestion of his commanders. In 2019, his parents were poisoned by gas leaking from a stove; his mother Sultan died, while his father was treated at an intensive care station.

Club player career

Association football

Çakmak played association football professionally in his youth for Zeytinburnuspor.

Amputee football

After his release from the military hospital, he joined the amputee football team, Karagücü, a

Turkish Land Forces The Turkish Land Forces () is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Significant campaigns since the foun ...

sports club, to play in the 2010–11 Turkish Amputee Football League.

International player career

In 2010, he was admitted to Turkey's national amputee team. He participated in the European and world championships in 2010, 2012 and 2014. The national team placed third among 24 nations. He captained the national team, which became champion of the 2017 European Amputee Football Championship and the runner-up of the 2018 Amputee Football World Cup.31

Manager career

In 2020, he was appointed manager of the national amputee football team, which won the 2021 European Amputee Football Championship under his direction.

Honours

Player

:; World Cup ::* ''Runners-up'' (1): 2018 :;European Championship ::* ''Winners'' (1):

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Manager

:; World Cup ::* ''Winners'' (1):

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

:;European Championship ::31 ::* ''Winners'' (1):

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cakmak, Osman 1977 births Living people People from Zile Sportspeople from Tokat Turkish men's footballers Zeytinburnuspor footballers Men's association football midfielders Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Russia Turkish amputee football players Turkish football managers